


A Useful Skill

by paranoidangel



Category: Downton Abbey
Genre: Gen, Misses Clause Challenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-09
Updated: 2012-12-09
Packaged: 2017-11-20 17:36:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/587974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paranoidangel/pseuds/paranoidangel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Edith learns to cook.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Useful Skill

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rachel2205](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rachel2205/gifts).



> Spoilers for series 3.
> 
> Betaed by hhertzof.

Edith grew more nervous the closer to the kitchens she got. It wasn't that she didn't think they'd listen to her and she knew Mrs Patmore was always friendly, but she wasn't sure how the cook would receive her request. She felt worse when she got there and saw Mrs Patmore giving orders to Daisy and Ivy, Daisy giving orders to Ivy, the numbers of pots and pans going into ovens and coming off the stove and the variety of dishes in various states of preparedness on the table.

She stood in the doorway, considering whether she should leave it for now and come back later when Daisy turned and upon seeing her said, "Oh, Lady Edith." At that, everyone stopped what they were doing and Edith felt guilty for unsettling everything and keeping them from their work.

Mrs Patmore added a dish to the table before she smiled and said, "Lady Edith, what can we do for you?"

Edith gave her a small smile back. "I was wondering if you would teach me to cook. I'd like to know how to do something useful." She was sure Mrs Patmore couldn't say no to a request like that, but she wanted the cook to agree because she was willing, not just because Edith was the daughter of her employer.

"If you're sure." Mrs Patmore didn't sound sure, though.

Edith was quick to reassure her as she took a step into the room. "If I turn out to be completely unteachable, just tell me and I won't bother you again."

Mrs Patmore looked at her as she considered. "I dare say you'll learn something. Lady Sybil managed after all."

Edith bit her lip. She'd forgotten Sybil had done the same thing during the war. It was something she wished she could talk to her sister about now, but it was too late for that.

"Why don't you start with making some tea?" Mrs Patmore looked kindly at her, perhaps realising what she'd said. "We could all with a cup. Ivy," she called out, turning to the maid, who'd been standing at the back of the kitchen looking nervous. "Why don't you show Lady Edith how to make a round of tea?"

"Yes, Mrs Patmore," Ivy replied dutifully.

Edith hadn't really met Ivy before, but Ivy smiled at her and Edith smiled back, thinking that she liked Ivy already.

"First, you fill the kettle," Ivy said, handing it over.

Edith peered into it. It sounded simple enough, but did fill mean that exactly or was it a cooking term for something else? "How much water should I put in?"

"Up to about here. That'll be enough water to make four cups." Ivy pointed to a spot on the outside of the kettle and Edith marked it with her finger before going over to the sink and turning the tap on.

"How do you know how far to fill it?" She chanced a glance over at Ivy, hoping the water wouldn't fill the kettle too far while she did it.

Watching her, Ivy frowned and thought about the question for a moment. "I don't know. I just do."

Ivy was a good teacher, Edith found. She tried to answer Edith's questions and was patient as Edith struggled to do tasks that Ivy found simple. However, this was all second nature to Ivy and it didn't always occur to her to mention important steps. Picking out the tea leaves from the cups was tricky, but Edith managed something drinkable in the end. She smiled as she sat at the table and drank tea that didn't taste quite as good as she was used to, but it had some indefinable quality that she eventually realised was pride in having made it herself.

When she had finished the cup she looked hopefully at Mrs Patmore and asked, "Do I pass?"

"You'll do," she said, but she smiled too. "Come back after breakfast tomorrow and you can help make lunch, if you still want to."

"Oh, I do," Edith said eagerly.

~*~

A fortnight later saw Edith feeling as nervous as she had that first day she'd made tea. This time it was during breakfast and she barely ate any of hers as she watched her father anxiously.

He frowned up at her a few times, before finally asking, "Is there something wrong?"

"No." She turned back to her breakfast, but she'd only had a mouthful before glancing back up at her father again.

He was still looking at her. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure." This time she concentrated on her food, but that didn't stop her from noticing when he put his knife and fork down. Then she asked, "Did you like your breakfast this morning?"

He gazed at his plate. "I'm not sure it was quite up to Mrs Patmore's standard, but yes, it was nice."

"That's because Mrs Patmore didn't make it, I did," she said, sitting up straight.

He sighed. "I didn't bring you up to become a cook."

She bit her lip. She had been so sure he'd be proud of what she'd done. When she was a child and all three of them were presented to their parents, they had both exclaimed over what they were shown. Or maybe that was more Mama admiring Mary and Sybil's work.

The only way she'd got Mrs Patmore to agree to her making breakfast in the first place was to promise her that Papa wouldn't be upset. She hadn't thought he'd make a fuss out of it and it had been quite a thrill to get up with the servants.

"I'm not going to be a cook." She pushed her plate away - the food didn't taste as nice now. "I just wanted to do _something_. Be more than just a jilted bride."

"It's very good," Matthew said.

Edith smiled at him. She could always rely on Matthew to back her up, but it wasn't the same as her father doing it.

But all Papa said was, "I said it was nice," and he took his newspaper and left them to it.

"At least he didn't forbid you from doing it again," Matthew pointed out.

Edith tried to find some comfort in that.


End file.
